Take the dog for a long walk. Without the spouse. Because, let's face it, if it's a home problem, then that means the spouse needs to leave me a lone for a bit.

If weather keeps me from doing that, then I drink. Sometimes I'l have a drink after the walk, but not always.

And there's always my crochet. Which only works when the bad day is stress or general, and not a MAD day. MAD days require drinking.

"We do not need any other Tutankhamun's tomb with all its treasures. We need context. We need understanding. We need knowledge of historical events to tie them together. We don't know much. Of course we know a lot, but it is context that's missing, not treasures." - Werner Herzog, in Archaeology, March/April 2011

Bad Days... We all have them on occasion. Some are because of work, some are because of home. Others are a result of things that we can't control.

Today, mine is a combination of the 3. So tonight I am sitting at the neighborhood pub with a cold beer as a way to chill. Frustrating thing is I don't anticipate the next few days to be any better.

What do you do when you have a bad day?

Look upon this day as an opportunity to better understand what your wife is going through. The way you feel now is pretty much how she feels most of the time. It's very hard to focus on other meaningful things in life that should be important when one's attention is constantly drawn to that black hole of despair in one's heart. You might be able to picture a rainbow or a sunny day at the beach in your head but doing so provides no joy. That's what depression is like.

Absent medications, probably the best thing to do is to focus on micro-tasks.....okay, I'm doing the dishes. I'm going to start with this glass. be sure to clean the bottom of the glass. Turn the glass clockwise. Make certain it is thoroughly rinsed. Place the glass carefully in the rack so as not to damage it.
That kind of thing. With luck eventually you'll go numb and feeling nothing is preferable to feeling bad IMO.

People will miss that it once meant something to be Southern or Midwestern. It doesn't mean much now, except for the climate. The question, “Where are you from?” doesn't lead to anything odd or interesting. They live somewhere near a Gap store, and what else do you need to know? - Garrison Keillor

I journal a lot of times. I'll write down what my frustration is and then try to respond to myself with truth or to offer perspective. A lot of times it helps just to see it in writing and give myself a chance to think through it. The writing it out process slows my brain down, too, and helps me make sense of what I'm feeling. If I just sit there and think about it, I have a hard time untangling all the thoughts that are playing into it.

A lot of times I'll try to just do something that feels loving despite how I may be feeling in the moment. Make myself a really nice meal, even if it involves expensive ingredients and a lot of effort that no one else will ever know about or appreciate. It's for ME, and I'm worth the effort it takes to do kind things for myself. Treat myself to a movie I want to see. Just do things that reinforce that even though things may not be going well, I'm still a valuable and worthwhile person in this exact moment.

If I have a lot of nervous energy, a really hard work out can help. I have to be careful with that - I have some history that can make exercise a slippery slope for me. But it can be a good, productive way to get out some aggression or pent up frustration before moving on to try to work through an issue.

Smoke a cigar, usually with a good drink and away from people. Granted the cigar tends to keep people away.
Play on my scroll saw. The concentration on something detailed helps not think about the problem.

When I am stressed I like to go for a loooong walk or a long run. It doesn't matter the time of day or the weather, there's just something about being outside alone in the quiet that helps me. If I do not have the time to get out and do that I will lay down on the floor in the living room and let me kids climb over me or sit on me like a mountain. They think they're getting one over on me or something but really I'm just sitting there resting. As long as I don't take a knee directly to the neck it's pretty relaxing and they burn off some energy too.

When my kids were little, I would deal with a bad day by getting down on the floor with them and playing, Legos, MarioKart, dolls, whatever they had going, just play, not watch or guide, but follow their lead in their play

Now that they are older, I watch funny YouTube videos with them, laugh at Instagram memes, or, play with our new puppy together

The power of play can be awesome - kids/puppies don't care what kind of day you had which is a good thing

I really like what Maister had to say too

and really, a little romance and intimacy always cures my bad day blues - when in doubt, get it on, I say

I just think about all the folks out there in the world who have it so much worse than me. I own my own house, car, and don't have to worry about paying bills most of the time. My health is good, I have a great doggo and a good family (sans sister). It could always be a lot worse.

mskis - you and your family have had BIGLY changes over the last few years. You guys have had 3 boys, moved several hundred miles to a brand new place, both you & the missus changed jobs a couple of times since moving south, moved to another house...basically it's been constant change for a while now.

You like woodworking go in the garage & build something you want. Just for you. If you don't like it, so what, use it for firewood. Don't dwell on bad, just deal with it. Dwell on good!

"Whatever beer I'm drinking, is better than the one I'm not." DMLW
"Budweiser sells a product they reflectively insist on calling beer." John Oliver

Bad Days... We all have them on occasion. Some are because of work, some are because of home. Others are a result of things that we can't control.

Today, mine is a combination of the 3. So tonight I am sitting at the neighborhood pub with a cold beer as a way to chill. Frustrating thing is I don't anticipate the next few days to be any better.

What do you do when you have a bad day?

When I went through my divorce it felt like a series of bad days strung together for weeks on end. I know this may not help but this is what i did:

1. Talk to a therapist. Like seriously. Just to talk. It helped so much
2. Went to the gym. The fittest i had ever been in my life was during and post divorce. I ran about 4-5 miles daily and hit the gym. I was looking damn good.
3. Played lots of COD (call of duty). What better way to let out aggression that beat the living snot out of some stranger.

mskis - you and your family have had BIGLY changes over the last few years. You guys have had 3 boys, moved several hundred miles to a brand new place, both you & the missus changed jobs a couple of times since moving south, moved to another house...basically it's been constant change for a while now.

You like woodworking go in the garage & build something you want. Just for you. If you don't like it, so what, use it for firewood. Don't dwell on bad, just deal with it. Dwell on good!

I agree. Don’t dwell on bad. Sometimes you just have to accept things.

Learning to accept things was a tough lesson for me. Things just don’t always go the way we planned or expected. I try not to dwell on the things that feel sad or disappointing if I couldn’t control the outcome in the first place.